Pages

Monday, 25 November 2013

Improve your Drawing Skill by Drawing Symmetrical Shapes

One
of the most common problems with drawing is the affliction of skewed-looking
objects. The crooked look to a drawing may remain unforeseen until the drawing
is well under way. The solution is to practice drawing symmetrical objects
freehand without any drawing aids.

Drawing
Exercise to Improve Skill

Symmetry
can be found in many objects including ornaments, tools, creatures and art. I
believe that students with low drawing ability lack visual awareness of one or
more quadrants of the visual field, whether this is the left, right, top or bottom
of a page. This results in a drawing that appears to lean to one side, or to be
placed too far on one corner of the page. Common problems are: teapots that
appear to lean to one side, lob-sided ellipses, squashed-up edges of portraits
or animal drawings.

Drawing
Lesson for Beginners

Crooked Drawings become
Obvious
when Placed in a Grid

Countering
skewed drawings can be aided by the practice of symmetrical drawing freehand. Try
practicing drawing simple symmetrical objects such as circles, squares and triangles.
The challenge is not as easy as it sounds. Rulers and compasses are not permitted,
but the rendering of freehand and the use of the naked eye.

Skill
of the Naked Eye

The
aim is to practice how truly horizontal a line is; how perfectly curved an arc
is or to judge the location of the central point of an object. Students that
may benefit most from this drawing lesson are those that find it difficult to
visually judge if a mirror is hung straight on a wall or similar. Perfectly symmetrical
drawings are not possible without being able to make accurate visual judgments.

Video
Clip of Drawing Exercise

My
video clip shows how I drew simple symmetrical shapes freehand by gradual
increments. The first attempt will seldom be perfect, as can be seen. Few can
actually draw a perfect circle straight off. Work toward accuracy by working
progressively darker and viewing the drawing from different angles. An eraser
is of course allowed, but no rulers or other such drawing aids can be used.
Keep rubbing out the drawing and adjusting the lines. Practicing this skill
will develop visual awareness of the following:

Drawing Symmetry Freehand

How
close to horizontal a line is.

How
close to vertical a line is.

If
one side of a symmetrical drawing truly mirrors the other.

How
central to the page the drawing is.

How
equal each quadrant of the drawing is.

To
judge a central point in the drawing.

How
truly curved a line is

How straight a line is.

How
to Counter Skewed Drawings

Drawing of Cockerel

The
clip also shows how I drew a near-perfect rectangle and triangle. This is
followed by a step by step demo on drawing a circle as perfect as possible.

Accurate
visual judgments of such drawing elements will guard against a skewed drawing
in the future, even if the object drawn is not symmetrical. This is because
every drawing ideally should inhabit a good portion of the page, be centrally
placed and has roughly equal amounts of space around the drawing. This can be
seen in the drawing of the cockerel.

More
challenging shapes can be practiced if need be. Drawing simple shapes larger will
also be more challenging than drawing them small.

This blog offers art challenges for oils, alkyds, acrylics, watercolors, pastels and crafts for all ages which might be used for developing artists or as lesson plan ideas for teachers. I have a BA in Fine Art and a PCET in teaching. I have condensed my teaching experience within my book ‘How do I Inspire my Art Class? I have also written other books on oil painting. Read more about this blog.